On December 1, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping met US President Donald Trump for a working dinner during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The two sides reached an important consensus at the meeting, which set the direction for future development of bilateral relations.

On December 4, the SIAS jointly held a seminar on the post-G20 summit China-US relations, together with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). Academics from the SIIS, Fudan University, Tongji University, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Xinhua News Agency Shanghai Bureau and the SIAS research staff attended the meeting.

Those whom participated explored future trends of the China-US trade dispute following the G20 summit, and the future of bilateral ties, among other issues.